


Hirateth

by Anonymous



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 06:53:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15746553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: For Brandywinebridge-twentymiles on Tumblr. Because she's awesome!





	Hirateth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mosslover](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mosslover/gifts).



> For Brandywinebridge-twentymiles on Tumblr. Because she's awesome!

The train journey from Moscow to Irkutsk takes 5 days.

5 days of beautiful, wild scenery, making Fili’s thoughts spiral round and round in circles around one subject only:

Kili.

Wild mountain passes cutting through Ural, viaducts that seem to defy the laws of gravity, tunnels winding through sheer rocks. Forests, never-ending forests, streams and rivers and nature which only begrudgingly seems to allow for the thin thread of the railway to cross the wilderness. Awe-inspiring and humbling. The distances that make his head spin. 

The sort of distances that are keeping Kili trapped. Is that what his brother is being forced to do – trying to somehow scale all this land, to carve out a mark of progress thousands of miles away, for a foreign power? A puny effort of man to lay claim over nature and its deadly conditions? What’s it like? How do they survive? Is there anything beautiful to be found in Siberia at all, perhaps at least during its short, cool summers?

Kili.

Kili, who has always had his opinions and never felt the need to keep them to himself. Kili, who believed passionately in independence, in their country, in the right to preserve their language and traditions.

How would he feel now, if he knew the sort of decisions and political alliances that Fili had to make to get as far as he did? The assurances Fili gave on his behalf, which go completely against everything Kili stands for?

"He'll be angry, but he will understand," his mother said. "You have to give him time, let him work through his anger."

They have taken him straight from the university. Fili remembers it as if it happened only yesterday. He was meant to meet Kili after classes and they were going out to town together to pick out a present for their mother's birthday. Except Kili never showed up and Fili never forgave himself for losing him like that. 

But he was young back then, only a few years out of university himself, taking his first steps in diplomacy, to Kili's second year of an engineering degree.

Today however, today Fili has options he couldn't have dreamt of five years ago. He's played his cards right, every move carefully calculated, long nights full of hard work and a pleasant smile always, for everyone, regardless of what Fili actually feels. His uncle's connections, countless meetings, conferences and negotiations first for Thorin in Stockholm, then Balin in Copenhagen and finally Dori in London. He's put in the hours and then some, made a name for himself as a steady, level-headed, dependable, yet pleasant representative of his country.

For Kili. All of it for Kili.

At the age of 27 Fili is the youngest ever nominated counsellor. Most other bright young things in the business of foreign affairs bide their time, furthering their connections until they can get a better posting, closer to home, with more influence and prestige. 

Instead Fili took the very first posting available; in Peru. 

A counsellor nominates his attachés. And Fili nominated Kili.

It has raised more than one eyebrow, and there are hurdles to cross yet, conversations which Kili will need to navigate _just so_ , where one false move on his part will spell the end of Fili's spectacular career and likely deportation for both of them. 

But that's okay. Fili will explain it all to him somehow, Fili will teach him how to hide his feelings, stand his ground and win over allies. If only Kili gives him half a chance.

For now in Fili's suitcase there's a diplomatic passport with Kili's name on it - the only document in existence which, through an odd loop of law, is a free pass to freedom even for the political prisoners is the faraway Siberia region. There's enough money, partly supplied by Thorin, for Fili to buy his way through a myriad of permissions, passes and checkpoints, where officials might be less savvy in the letter of law and more savvy in hard cash. And there is hope - that damned thing he can't let go. 

As the lush forests give way to grassy steppe of central Russia Fili tries to imagine the conditions in which Kili survives. He knows that his brother is alive - he knows for certain because through a friend of a friend he was able to check the prisoner's records. He knows that Kili had gone through pneumonia at least 3 times (that are on record), but lived to tell the tale. His engineering degree would have made him valuable and hopefully allow him marginally better conditions than others. 

Beyond that, Fili knows nothing. Their mother writes to Kili, still, always, but there's never any response. 

His brother doesn't know that Fili is coming for him - he can't. Secrecy is a large part of Fili's plan.

What will he think of Peru when he learns – a land even further away from home than Siberia? How will he react to Fili? Did he feel abandoned during all those years when Fili slaved away to gain leverage and position? Will he even recognise him?

Fili closes his eyes, ruthlessly shutting down the spinning thoughts and tells himself to trust in Kili, trust in _them_ , in the bond they used to have.

Whatever else happens, for better or for worse, at least they will be together.


End file.
